Like many people, I was appalled that last week Conservative MPs voted down a motion calling on the Government to continue funding free school meals over the school holidays in order to prevent over a million children going hungry during the Coronavirus pandemic.

This Scrooge-like decision is at odds with their previous extension of free school meals over the summer holidays through a voucher system, following footballer Marcus Rashford's popular campaign and a similar motion in June. It is also in contrast to the Welsh and Scottish Governments' recent commitments.

The government insists the best way to support families outside of term time is through the benefits system, which they argue is already generous enough, "rather than government subsidising meals". Putting aside the fact that the government does in fact subsidise meals, for MPs and Lords in the Houses of Parliament at a cost of £1.7 million a year, it is clear from the groundswell of support for Marcus Rashford's campaign that much, much more needs to be done in order to support struggling families through this pandemic and beyond.

At the last count in January there were 1,806 pupils eligible for free school meals in Somerton & Frome constituency. With the pandemic leading to a recession, and the end of the Job Retention Scheme in October feared to result in yet more job losses, the number of local families in need for support is going to rise.

Lib Dem MPs all supported the Labour motion. We know that feeding children properly not only helps them concentrate, grow and achieve more, but that it is the right thing to do. Free school meals were first introduced in 1906 by the then Liberal government due to concerns about poorer children's health and nutrition, and in 2014 the Lib Dems in government introduced free school meals for all children in reception and years 1 and 2. But our Conservative MP David Warburton voted against, and I wrote to him to ask him why. I have looked into all the arguments he put forward on his website and in the press, and there are a number of issues I feel people should know about:

1. Mr Warburton argues that Opposition Day Motions are 'purely symbolic and designed to signal political differences'. This ignores the fact that the Government can agree to them without a vote, as it did in June's very similar opposition motion about free school meals over the summer holidays. Governments can also lose these votes, such as in 2009 on settlement rights for Gurkha veterans. Also, five Tory MPs rebelled to vote for the motion, including Robert Halfon (Chair of the Education Select Committee) and Caroline Ansell who resigned from a government role in protest. The issue was not 'purely symbolic' to them.

1. Then he argues that an extension of the free meal voucher scheme over school holidays is 'not the answer' to food poverty, citing a Northumbria University and Healthy Living UK study (June 2020, by Prof. Greta Defeyter and Dr Emily Mann). However, the authors of this study are clear that their findings do not support the government's decision to withdraw the voucher scheme, warning that children of a parent or carer unable to access the voucher scheme could be at risk of severe food insecurity. Instead, they call for 'further financial support', as the £15 a week voucher is clearly not enough to ensure every child eats well. Our MP is using a study that supports increasing the value of the free school voucher scheme, to justify his vote against it.

1. Our MP then complains that the opposition motion did not include alternatives to how the scheme could be improved to help those who need it most. But alternatives already exist, and taking urgent action now would not stop anyone looking at long-term comprehensive solutions – both are needed. In July of this year, Henry Dimbleby's National Food Strategy review cited evidence that an estimated three million children are at risk of hunger in the school holidays and that there is increased demand at food banks over the summer. The government needs to act on the recommendations, including to expand the eligibility of free school meals to include every child from a household where a parent or guardian receives Universal Credit or equivalent benefits. It should also roll out the pilot Holiday Activity and Food programme nationally as it only currently covers 17 council areas, so that the programme can support children in receipt of free school meals in all areas of England, in a way that complements and works with existing local holiday activity providers.

1. He also refers to the £63 million that local authorities received 'to get food to those most in need – an initiative praised by the Trussell Trust.' Indeed it was welcomed by the Trussell Trust but they also suggested the funding would run out and should be more like £250 million annually . This was also not earmarked for child hunger but was to be spent on a range of issues to help people in crisis, at councils' discretion. It also appears that councils will have already used up the funding they received in July as the Government stated on 4th August that it anticipated most of the funding will be spent within 12 weeks (July-September). Ministers and our MP are deliberately misleading people by using a council hardship fund which they expected to be exhausted by now, as a reason for not acting further on holiday hunger now and in the future.

The response around the country to the vote has been amazing. Communities and businesses across the country have demonstrated the best of British values, stepping up where the government has failed to support the most vulnerable. Marcus Rashford's petition to end child food poverty has over 1 million supporters – https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276. After some lobbying by the Lib Dem group and others, it is also good to see that Somerset County Council have announced a £125,000 fund to provide more holiday meal support over the Christmas school holidays .

But what can people do locally?

1. Support local organisations – In Frome, we are lucky to have Fair Frome who run the foodbank, holiday hunger and Food At Five projects to try and ensure no local child goes hungry in Frome and surrounding villages, Purple Elephant who run holiday activities, together with the Community Fridge which provides free food to anyone who needs it. As the winter months approach, the situation is likely to get tougher; please do get in touch with one of these incredible local organisations and support them if you can. But it should not be up to charities to keep children well fed.

1. Sign our petition. Holiday hunger is not a new problem, nor will it go away when the pandemic is over. Tackling child hunger should be a priority of any Government. Daisy Cooper MP is leading the Lib Dem campaign urging the Government to ensure vulnerable children do not go hungry in school holidays, and to make free school meals available for every child in poverty in England, including every school pupil whose parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit. Please sign our petition www.libdems.org.uk/meals.

Nelson Mandela once said, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children".

Our MP voted against feeding poor children during the school holidays and his position is indefensible. I ask him to reconsider.

Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward and Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Somerton and Frome.